County IT Director presents assistant request

Pulaski County Government Information Technology (IT) Director Tabor Brown presented an assistant request to the county commissioners during a regular meeting on Aug. 17. Brown explained to the commissioners that since being hired, the goal has been to move away from outsourcing their technology needs. Although they have saved money since hiring him, they are still spending a significant amount on outsourcing. He went on to say that if they hired an additional employee, they would have a full in-house IT team, which would help streamline everything. A number of things would be able to be managed in-house, including county servers, network infrastructure, internet connectivity, cybersecurity, Office 365, phone systems, public safety technology and their data back-up and disaster recovery plans. He said that in calculating salary, the cost for an additional employee would be $68,411.20, not including benefits. In 2026, they budgeted $233,680 for consultant fees. With hiring a new employee, that would reduce their budget for consultant fees down to $50,000.